Mark Zuckerberg Joins Viddy, 'The Instagram Of Video Apps'

When you're name's Mark Zuckerberg, and you're on of the youngest living billionaires, every single move you make is going to be analyzed. Add to the fact that you tout living a transparent lifestyle as the head of the largest social network in the world, and you're going to be especially watched. Zuckerberg's latest move, one that doesn't involve any financial transactions, is relatively inconsequential, but has still managed to grab the attention of investors and technologists.

Zuckerberg joined Viddy, the short video-sharing app that places an emphasis on effects. The app became one of the top free apps on the iPhone this week, and it's drawing several comparisons to photo-sharing app Instagram, which was just purchased by Facebook for roughly $1 billion.

Viddy allows users to share short videos quickly and easily. Clips that are recorded and shared via the service are limited to 15 seconds. Best of all, Viddy enables its users to edit video on the fly, something that typically takes bloated PC software and lots of time. It's been described as the Twitter of video-sharing.

Just last week, Viddy began raising funds in a widely publicized Series B. The company is said to be aiming to raise $30 million at a $370 million valuation. TechCrunch reporter Alexia Tsotsis noted that the round was really f--king ambitious and that the company was throwing its reported 10 million users on the table. Tsotsis says investors are hoping it will be a $10 billion company or at least an $800 million company.

Viddy's Facebook integration has been crucial to its success. Since launching its Timeline app in February, Viddy has seen over 15 million interactions with its content on Facebook, with over 1.7 million users signing on, said TechCrunch writer Rip Empson in a recent report. Viddy also says that it's averaging 300K new registered users per day, an average that has seen a significant bump since February.

The service has reportedly been backed by a plethora of investors coming from Los Angeles' entertainment industry including Shakira; Roc Nation (founded by Jay-Z), which manages artists such as Rihanna and The Ting Tings; and Overbrook Entertainment, which was founded by Will Smith and serves as the management arm of his family including Jada Pinkett Smith and Willow Smith.

Viddy has also garnered attention from technologists including Biz Stone, one of the founders of Twitter, who also invested in the latest round of funding.

While Zuckerberg may not have thrown any money in the direction of Viddy, he is certainly paying attention to what they're doing. You can check out Mark Zuckerberg's Viddy account here.